Over 37,000 Nissan Pathfinders Being Recalled in Canada to Fix Hood Latch Problem

Nissan has announced a recall of 360,379 Pathfinder SUVs worldwide to address a problem with the hood latch, which could fail and allow the hood to fly open without warning. The risk of a crash from such an eventuality is obvious.

The recall affects 37,115 2013-2016 Pathfinders located in Canada, along with 322,671 units in the U.S., Another 593 are in South Korea.

The problem doesn’t actually concern the primary hood latch. Rather, the specific problem is this: if debris builds up in a bell crank lever pivot joint that’s attached to the secondary hood latch (that serves as a backup to prevent the hood from flying open if ever the primary latch fails), that latch could get stuck in open position.

Nissan’s report to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), filed on June 13, explains that owners who don’t perform what it calls “proper inspection and maintenance” of the bell crank assembly could wind up with the open-latch problem. The company adds that debris buildup could also damage coating on the assembly meant to prevent corrosion.

Nissan says it is not aware of any accidents related to the issue, although it does have in hand one report alleging an injury resulting from it.

Automotive safety regulators in Canada have been notified of the problem, Nissan says.

One thing the automaker has not shared as of yet, is a plan for fixing the issue (which is said to involve three separate components), but it promises one soon. Nissan will start notifying U.S. owners of the recall on June 30, as part of which will be instructions on how to inspect the bell crank assembly.

No word on when Canadian owners will be notified, but it’s expected that should happen concurrently or soon thereafter.